Learning Design Framework

TPack -  Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge framework.  
"Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) is an emergent form of knowledge that goes beyond all three components (content, pedagogy, and technology)." Mishra and Koehler (2006)
This framework describes the idea that you must be technically proficient using ICT, that you must have a thorough understanding of your content and that you must understand the best practice of teaching your content using ICT.


Learning Engagement Theory
"The fundamental idea underlying engagement theory is that students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks." Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999)


Engagement can be achieved through many strategies but in this case it is focusing on using technologies to stimulate engagement.  I am immediately drawn to the fact that this describes many of the tasks/learning activities that GDLT students have been set in the first two weeks of this course.  The emphasis is on performing meaningful tasks in a collaborative setting using higher order thinking processes.  Again, this is reflective of activities in which we have participated.  Evaluation of mobile phones using De Bono's hats (1992), creating our own learning framework, problem-solving in trying to figure out how to use technologies (blogs/wikis), reasoning in understanding what it all means and decision-making continually throughout the process.


"Engagement theory is based upon the idea of creating successful collaborative teams that work on ambitious projects that are meaningful to someone outside the classroom."  Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999)


There are three principle components and they are "Relate-Create-Donate" Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999). The Relate component is about collaboration which means working together in teams.  This uses the real life skills of planning, managing and communicating, perhaps with people of diverse backgrounds.  Bringing this back to our ICT course, this is a close description of our Learning theories wiki.
The Create component is about using your own perspective to create a solution to a project or activity.    Kearsley & Shneiderman suggest that learners "have a sense of control over their learning which is absent in traditional classroom instruction" as they define the nature of the project. In the ICT course, although we are furiously creating,  the "sense of control" has been sorely absent for me and I have not found it to be conducive/pleasant environment for learning.  Donate is the third component and is particularly relevant to education where contribution to society is highly valued.  Again this is applicable to our Learning Theories and mobile phone wikis and worked very well in these instances.


Bloom's Revised Taxonomy 
Bloom (1956) Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains describes three styles of learning  - Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor.  The cognitive style is about your knowledge, the affective style is about your attitude (emotions) and the psychomotor style is about your physical skills.  These are sometimes referred to as KSA (knowledge skills attitude).
In the cognitive domain of learning styles, there are six major categories starting with simpler thinking skills of remembering and working our way up to the more complex learning skills of creating.  You must master these skills from the bottom up i.e. first you must be able to remember stepping up through the levels to finally create.  These categories are further sub divided into lower and higher order thinking skills.   


Creating
Evaluating               Higher Order Thinking Skills
Analysing
Applying
Understanding       Lower Order Thinking Skills
Remembering


My Learning Design Framework 
Bringing all of these theories together has been very daunting for me and I have had quite a moments when I thought it might not be possible to get my head around all of the different ideas being presented over the last two weeks.  But slowly, slowly, ideas and concepts have been falling into place. 
I have very briefly overviewed TPack, Learning Engagement Theory and Blooms Taxonomy above.  They very obviously go hand and hand.  I especially like Learning Engagement Theory with the ideas of collaborative learning on meaningful projects that engage the learner using higher order thinking skills.  The concept of Create-Relate-Donate is ideal for use in an ICT enriched environment. This is where TPack becomes important.  You cannot engage the learner without good pedagogy.  TPack is about knowing your content, being proficient in ICT and knowing how to teach your content using ICT.  The principles, so far, are for problem-based learning using real world contexts to develop a deep and full understanding. Collaboration and teamwork is a fundamental part of this as well as using higher order thinking skills such as creating and evaluating.  Bloom's Taxonomy underpins these ideas as it has categorised different learning styles and delineated the six major categories of learning.  We must make sure we address all these categories of learning going from remembering through to creating, thus teaching at all levels from the lowest order thinking to the higher order thinking skills.